Welcome to AfroSapiophile
Contribute and join a pantheon of intelligent Black writers
Welcome to AfroSapiophile!
Hello everyone! I am Johnny Silvercloud, the creator and editor-in-chief of AfroSapiophile.
Being part of a few discussion groups on social media years ago, I noticed that there are a lot of us writing, researching a whole lot just to talk on a social media status, which will get buried by how that social media platform works. Instead of speaking deep, well-thought-out things concerning society, why not write articles and columns which can be referenced in the future easily? Some of us are incredibly knowledgeable and do a whole lot of research just to argue online or inform someone on a social media status. All that intellectual labor for nothing, only to do it again, six months later, repeating the same thing.
I created this publication years ago on WordPress years ago. In the spring of 2020, I decided to move everything to Medium, and it looks like a great idea. My only regret is not doing this years ago!
I want to share publication space, with folks with parallel goals to mine. Let’s get started with nitty-gritty.
What we are not:
- We are not politically affiliated. No, not even myself individually. There is no official endorsement of any political party. There may be a strong argument here and there regarding political analyses, but we are not a partisan entity.
- We are not a place for spreading hatred. Please understand the difference between critical analysis of society, versus hatred of a people. Hatred will not be published here.
- Poor arguments, flawed logic, and reason aren’t welcome here. The Editor/Chief reserves all rights to deny an article from publishing.
What we are:
- This is an anti-racism, anti-sexism publication that seeks to disrupt, degrade and destroy the functional characteristics of white supremacy to cascading effect, and work towards the building, repair, and maintenance of the Black Community to facilitate positive Black identity to positive results.
- We amplify critical thinking and analysis pertaining to civil rights, human rights, and systemic racism against all people of color with an emphasis on (but not exclusive to) Black people.
- Intersectionality is to be understood here, and heard.
- We accept all types of intelligent thought from the US and other countries. Here, all the pieces matter. You don’t have to be Black to contribute.
- We are a place to discuss things you don’t normally see and hear in life; place light on things once unknown or thought of; political perspective and societal issues that society usually suppresses. We are a place to explore the understanding of sociopolitical issues, which may tie our shared history to our present.
- All writers are valued. Even if you wrote only once in a blue moon (but you should want to write a lot more.)
What we want:
- Sociopolitical experiences and points of view, critical thinking and analysis, interpretation, etc.;
- Speaking on the issues concerning society; racism, sexism, sex, relationships, Black excellence, politics, (and other issues not listed); things you notice and others should be aware of too;
- Life, love, the universe: our schools, relationships, social circles, families, religion, critical events observations, passions, ideas, and theories
- Being a photographer and all, the aesthetics of AfroSapiophile tend to stand out from other pubs. I like that keeping it that way, so keep in mind that I may change the thumbnail photo. Trust me; you want folks to click on it too so yeah, you benefit from not having to deal with dull, hazy-looking free images which have been used a thousand times on Medium as is.
Intellectual Standards:
- Concerning race relations: knowing that colorblind logic doesn’t work is the certificate of training required prior to any talk on race relations. Racism doesn’t work both ways. Second, yes, the United States has a severe racist history. So if you have a problem with honest, truthful history, this place is not for you.
- Concerning sex relations: Toxic masculinity is a real problem. This has to be understood. Sexism doesn’t work equally both ways.
- Concerning politics: No, “both sides” are not the same. Both sides are not doing the same thing. No, both sides are not equals. In fact, there are more sides than a “both sides.” Speak on politics on the merit of what’s actually happening, what actually occurred, what is actually being planned.
- We don’t defend those who commit harm here (e.g., Bill Cosby).
Tagging
The tag you use will tell your post where to go in the pub. Some will overlap. If you don’t add a tag, know that one will be added prior to publication. So use one, or more, depending on your subject. Our tags are:
“Society”
Racism; Sexism; white supremacy; white identity; societal critique; critical analysis of society and collectives; what collectives do with sociological power; what can be done to mitigate or abolish problematic power dynamics. • Society
“Politics”
Politics; political parties; political power; what one does with political power; who gets empowered by who; politicians; political choices • Politics
“Love”
Anything about love, loving, sex, and relationships. The following tags will guide an article into this category: • Love • Sex • Family • Life Lessons • Black Excellence • Relationships • Poems
“History”
Things that tie to history; discussion or referencing historical domain figures; historical occurrences; reaching back into the past. • History • Hidden History • Hidden HERstory • Black History
“Entertainment”
Referencing music, movies, shows and series, video games, and other forms of entertainment. This may also include actors, directors, musicians, and other persons associated with the various entertainment industries. Keep in mind that this isn’t just a “movie review” section for example; any review will be through the lens of societal reflective analysis of some sort. The following tags will guide your article into this category: • Cinema • Movies • Music • Sports • Entertainment
“Poetry”
Poetry is where all the poems go. They will require either one of these tags: • Poem • Poetry
Money or Pay
As with most publications on medium, we currently don’t have the infrastructure to literally pay our writers up-front for their work. We strongly advise writers to join the Medium Partner Program (MPP) and place their pieces behind the paywall so that they can get compensation for their work. Keep in mind you can release work for free, but I as a writer highly recommend the MPP system. Writing is work, and Medium facilitates pay in-house. Getting paid in perpetuity for thinking out loud is pretty awesome.
Other Considerations
There’s a difference between submitting an older article you’ve written that has never been published onto a publication, versus something that is old and has been released through another publication before. We don’t want to publish work that other publications have already released. Your original work is preferred. It is not fair to other writers — especially new, hard-working writers — to cut/paste your older work as if it’s new and then release it on AfroSapiophile. It’s not fair. Please refrain from such practice.
Articles that are “sponsored” by outside entities (which effectively function as a commercial advertisement) embedded in the writing may be rejected. Such concepts may confuse the AfroSapiophile audience into thinking the whole publication is sponsored by your sponsor; which is false. To mitigate this issue, refrain from submitting columns like these. If you really need to give your sponsor a shout-out, put it at the end of your work. Do not front-load sponsor shout-outs. Keep in mind that these are subject to be edited out of your work, or still have your work rejected.
Please aim for landscape height/width ratio photos for the first, face-image (which will probably be the thumbnail of your work). Landscape height/width ratios mean that the width is longer than the height. Portrait height/width ratios mean that the height (the top to bottom) is longer than the width. We want the audience to get to reading quickly; to get ahead of your writing peers, read the link for tips.
AfroSapiophile is a very image-conscious publication, so please consider never using infographics (a graphic with a bunch of tiny words, lines, and arrows all over the place) as your main image (first, front image) of your article.
Pay attention to editor comments in the private messaging. If you seem to ignore these, your article will get rejected.
How to Submit
Contribute!
If you want to be added as a contributing writer, please comment below. Tag me if you want me to see it quickly. I look forward to welcoming you as a contributor, so it’s great to have Twitter where I can speak directly, which can expedite the process.
Also, please read and support other writers here. You do not have to agree with everyone here and still respect them at the same time. In reading, try to highlight one thing that stands out. It let folks know what resonates. Please follow and share this publication with others you think may enjoy, learn, and build from it. Let’s build a community of intelligent thinkers that the world can benefit from.
